BDS Opposition Swells

Federal Labor member of parliament Michael Danby has attacked NSW Liberal Party would be Premier Barry O’Farrell for not allocating preferences to Labor in the seat of Marrickville where anti-Israel campaigner and Marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne is poised to win the State seat for the Greens Party in tomorrow’s State election.

Michael Danby

On December 14 last year Marrickville Council recently passed a motion to boycott products made in Israel.

“The NSW Liberal party failed to allocate their preferences in Marrickville today. They had allocated preferences in other seats, including Wollongong, Cessnock, Charlestown, Granville, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. Many within the Jewish Community will regard this as a failure of principle by Mr O’Farrell and the Liberal Party.” Mr Danby, who is the Federal member for the seat of Melbourne Ports, said.

Mr Danby criticised the decision and said it was an act of cowardice. When reminded that the motion to implement a boycott against Israel was passed with Labor councillors voting in favour of it, Danby replied; “They don’t represent the Federal Labor Party.”

He added: “The Liberal party are going to win big in NSW, but this decision was a mix of political cowardice and parochialism. That the Liberal’s would rather see the election of a member of the Watermelon faction of the Greens than give their preferences to the current Deputy Premier, is astonishing.” Mr Danby said.

The decision to not allocate preferences in the seat of Marrickville comes after Liberal Senator Mitch Fifield introduced a motion in Federal Parliament denouncing the Israeli Boycott by Marrickville Council and condemning any expansion of it. The motion passed with support from the Federal Labor Government.

“It seems strange to me that after the Federal Liberal party introduces a motion condemning the Fiona Byrne and Marrickville Council for introducing a boycott of Israel, that the NSW Liberal party would fail to prevent her from entering the NSW parliament by not allocating preferences,” Mr Danby said.

Marrickville’s sitting member is Labor’s Carmel Tebbutt.

“Mr O’Farrell should remember the political wisdom that all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. The Liberal party have allocated preferences in 7 seats, but they have failed to allocate preferences against the green candidate in Marrickville. If Fiona Byrne is able to enter the NSW parliament it’s because the NSW Liberal’s let her.” Mr Danby concluded.

In the meantime, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party in the NSW State Parliament, the Rev Fred Nile has added his voice to the attack on Byrne and adding his support to the “Day of Special Support for Israel” scheduled for March 30.

Rev Nile had this to say:

“I totally oppose the Greens’ Fiona Byrne’s anti-Semitic attack on Israel by her call for a boycott of Israeli goods.

On the contrary, I support the Day of Special Support for Israel on 30th March 2011 as Israel needs, and deserves, the support of all fair-minded Australians. Israel is surrounded by enemies and has a right and expectation to defend her citizens from the almost daily rocket attacks from Gaza as well as other enormous pressures. Israel is the only democratic nation in the Middle East and, as such, certainly does not need additional attacks from other democratic nations, including Australia, in the form of Marrickville Council’s shameful support (led by Cr Fiona Byrne) for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) against Israel. If elected to the NSW State Parliament on Saturday, Fiona Byrne has indicated she will extend this BDS against Israel state-wide” warned Rev Nile.

Such a boycott would impact jobs, and therefore the families, of millions of Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens living in Israel, whereas increased sales will increase the living standards of all Israeli citizens, be they Jews, Christians or Muslims” said Rev Nile.

Thankfully there would be far more sensible Australians standing with the State of Israel, in their constant struggle for peace, than against her” said Rev Nile. “I shall be continuing to buy Israeli goods which are always of high standard and making it my business to buy more, particularly on 30th March 2011, in an effort to send a strong message of support to Israel and a condemnatory message to Fiona Byrne and her ilk for their hatemongering”.

Visit J-Wire's main page for all the latest breaking news, gossip and what's on in your community.

You can’t blame Fiona Byrne 100% for her mentality. If you all recall, we had the National Council of Churches headed by a Catholic spokesman call for same, auxillary-Bishop of Canberra, Parick Power demonstrating on Israeli issues and, I stand to be corrected, think he may also be a memeber of the CJPP, of which there is no law against of course, but what the coalition stands for speaks for itself:
The dismantlement of the apartheid wall, policies of the Israeli Government and respect for human rights to name a few.

It’s so sad to see the ignorance on this website. If Israel wants to stop the boycott of products from the settlements in West Bank, they could easily just end the occupation. Stop trying to exploit this issue as being something about Jewish people, when it is not. There are many influential Jewish people that are making positive contributions to the progressive nature of the Greens. The Greens are obviously not perfect, and no doubt there are a couple of nutters in the party, but overwhelmingly – sadly for the pro-West Bank settlement people, the Greens aren’t the crazies they’re trying to make them out to be.

Michael Danby is a hypocrite.He used Green preferences to win his seat of Melbourne Ports and the reason the Greens will now have a control in the Senate as of july is because of Labor Preferences.Give us a breaklDanby.

It is illuminating to see Mayor Fiona Byrne demonstrating her monumental ignorance as she accuses Israel, inter alia, of practicing “apartheid”.
I quote from an article by Khaled Abu Toameh writing in Hudson New York, a publication of the respected Hudson Institute:

“. . . .Arab citizens can go to the same beaches, restaurants and shopping malls as Jews in this “apartheid” state. Moreover, they can run in any election and even have a minister in the government [Ghaleb Majadlah] for the first time.
“In this “apartheid” state, the Arab community has a free media that many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip envy. Ironically, an Arab newspaper in Nazareth or Haifa that is licensed by Israel enjoys more freedom than the media controlled by Hamas and Fatah, as well as most corrupt Arab dictatorships.”
I think the truth of Israel’s behaviour in the face of relentless persecution by the Arab states shows Mayor Byrne’s empty-headedness in her misguided support for the boycott of Israeli goods.
Yours frustratedly
Carlos

Speak Your Mind

Comments received without a full name will not be consideredEmail addresses are NEVER published! All comments are moderated. J-Wire will publish considered comments by people who provide a real name and email address. Comments that are abusive, rude, defamatory or which contain offensive language will not be published

A look at Saul Auslander, a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from Auschwitz in 1944 who were forced to assist the Nazis by cremating the bodies of the dead. Read more